No Matter What
by Minmei
Summary: (Another "What if?") Stan is seriously injured while protecting Lucas, but as secrets are uncovered, so is the hope for reconciliation on many sides. "Lumi" fic.


A feeling of regret was already eating away at Stan the moment they were captured. The four young men intending to rescue Phillip had been led into a trap, a trap Stan had helped to set up. However, Stan hadn't realized there were four. He had previously believed that there were only three. The identify of the final young man came as a shock to Stan...in more ways than one.

Lucas Roberts was the last person Stan expected to see, though he had to admit the man's presence made sense. After all, Lucas was Phillip's brother. But the moment Stan saw Lucas changed everything. He realized that Lucas' safety had not at all been included in the deal. This meant that Lucas' life was truly in danger. If anything happened to Lucas, then Stan, who was secretly Sami Brady in disguise, would never have a chance to reconcile with him.

A nervous wreck, Stan did his best to ensure that the prisoners, along with Phillip, could escape. First, having gained the trust of Tony's henchmen, he knocked out as many guards as he could. Luckily, there were only three in the building. Second, he took the cell keys and opened Phillip's cell door. Unfortunately, the young man--abused, starved and dehydrated despite Tony's promises--drifted in and out of consciousness. However, Stan was able to use his strength to bring Phillip to where the others were being held.

The others were initially and understandably skeptical the moment the door was unlocked. Stan had betrayed their trust; why would they believe him now? However, most surprisingly, Phillip vouched for Stan's character, leaving the boys to believe it was worth it to take this chance--their only chance. With Stan's instructions for escape, Brady, Shawn, and Rex took off with Phillip, but Lucas insisted on staying behind to keep an eye on Stan. Now, the two were walking together, Lucas half a step behind Stan.

"You know," Stan was saying with sarcasm, "if you're watching me more than you're watching your enemies or your surroundings, I'm not surprised you guys fell right into Tony's trap."

"Actually, if we'd just been watching you all along, we wouldn't have fallen into Tony's trap," Lucas said angrily. "And just why are you helping us now, anyway? How do I know you aren't going to suddenly stab us in the back?"

"Because I'd never hurt you, Lucas," Stan replied solemnly, though at a lower volume.

"What? Look, if you're not going to tell me--"

"Here!" Stan declared, turning around so suddenly that it nearly caused Lucas to jump in place. He held out his gun, the handle directed at Lucas. "If you don't trust me, then take my life, right here, right now. I don't really care either way. Without my family, my life doesn't have any meaning. I just...before I go, if I _have_ to go--God forbid--I'd like to believe I've redeemed myself in some way, although I know I'd never be able to redeem myself if I lived a thousand years."

The man's words were sincere, and they were affecting Lucas for some unexplained reason.

But why? He hardly knew Stan. Perhaps it was because they were in similar situations, separated from their respective partners and children. That was a pain that ran deep, and for Lucas, it was a comfort to have someone else personally know what he was going through.

"...calm down, man," Lucas finally said. "I believe you, all right?"

Just then, Stan gave him a strange smile. It bore a mix of relief, sadness, and disappointment.

_You...believe me_, he thought, using every ounce of his strength to fight back tears. _I've been waiting for those words, Lucas. Too bad they come a couple of months too late. Oh, God...if only you'd believed me when I told you Kate set me and Brandon up, but...after my track record, I guess I can't blame you for siding with that bitch..._

"So where are we going?" asked Lucas.

Stan returned to reality and placed the gun back into its holster. "To follow your friends. Where else?"

"I don't know. There seems to be a lot of surveillance."

"We don't have a choice, Lucas. We can either save our butts, or we can go back to that cell."

Lucas grew silent for a moment. "All right."

The two men quietly headed toward the back of the building, constantly looking over their shoulders every minute. The moment they stepped outside, however, they encountered the unexpected.

"What are you doing?" shouted an underling, quickly approaching the two with a rifle. "Where do you think you are taking that prisoner?"

"R-relax," said Stan, who held his hands out. "I'm just moving him--"

"Why should I believe you?" the man hissed. "We weren't given orders to move any of the captives."

"Oh, sure," Stan began sarcastically. "Just like you weren't given orders to watch for me and my arrival. Remember how that turned out?"

"Argh...still, the Count doesn't care about this prisoner in particular." He began to aim his gun at Lucas. "I don't think the Count would be heartbroken to lose one." He began to pull back on the trigger.

Stan, however, was quicker. He had already drawn his gun and was aiming it toward the henchman's chest. "Don't even think about it," he ordered. "Just go back to your post."

"You aren't calling the shots around here!" the other man shouted, refusing to back down.

"Neither are you!"

Lucas felt himself being shoved out of the way as a gunshot was fired. He looked back as he realized two things. Stan had just taken one man's life, but in doing so, he had saved another.

Stan watched the henchman drop to the floor, and he stood there, catching his breath.

"Th...thanks..." Lucas finally said. "You...you saved my life...Stan..."

But Stan could only remain there, looking down at the body in horror.

"Stan? Hey, what's wrong?"

"I-I..." Stan lowered his hand, the gun slipping from his grasp. "I just...I just killed a man...oh...oh God, I've..." He began to sink to his knees, growing more upset by the second. "I've never been responsible for killing anyone...not...not like this..."

Lucas walked around Stan until he was in front of him. "He was going to kill me. As far as I'm concerned, it was self-defense, and you have nothing to apologize for."

Stan looked up, still uneasy. "Lucas," he said, and then retrieved his gun. "L...let's go."

The two continued on their path, when all of a sudden there was an explosion, which sent the two flying off some feet from where they had been last standing. Most certainly they had been spotted, and a hand grenade had most likely caused the explosion.

Stan got up first, coughing. "You all right...Lucas?" When he received no answer, he looked over to see Lucas lying on the dirt, blood trickling down his forehead.

"Oh my God! Lucas!" He quickly dropped to the floor and tried to shake Lucas awake. When there was no response, he gently slapped at the young man's face. "Lucas...oh God...you have to wake up. Wake up, Lucas. No. Come on! No! Lucas! I won't...I won't let them...take your life...they'll have to kill me first...!"

In one berserk motion, Stan leapt over Lucas' still form and aimed over one of the dirt mounds at a couple of enemy men headed in his direction. "Damn you," he said, his eyes stinging as he recalled some happier memories of Lucas. "You won't hurt Lucas anymore. I'll kill every one of you if I have to..." With that, he blindly fired his handgun, hitting both men through sheer dumb luck. When the enemies had both gone down, Stan rushed back over to Lucas, every fear flying through his head.

Fortunately, Lucas began to stir, and he let out a moan.

"Lucas," Stan said, overcome with relief. "Are...are you all right? You're bleeding...I thought the worst..."

"Ugh..." Lucas brought his hand up to his forehead, where he felt some kind of wetness. "Oh...no, I'm...I'm okay. I just got hit in the head with some flying debris, I think. And then the fall knocked me out." He lowered his hand and opened his eyes, trying to focus on the man standing above him. "But...you...? I thought you...er..."

"What?"

"N...nothing. I thought I had a dream that my ex-fiancée was...here, pleading with the enemy for my life."

Stan began to blush. _So Lucas heard me..._

"Well, we shouldn't hang around here," said Stan. "If you're okay, we should hurry."

Lucas' eyes fell on an object in Stan's hand. "Y...you've used that recently..." he murmured. "No...it wasn't with that guard. You used that just now, didn't you? You...were the one who saved my life...damn it...that's twice..."

Stan smiled weakly. "If it helps, you can pretend it didn't happen. This is a war zone. Sometimes you find yourself saving someone's neck, even if you don't like that person..." His thoughts went briefly to Phillip, but an unexpected pain brought him out of them.

"And you know how much we all like you," Lucas joked lightly, but then saw Stan clutching his side awkwardly. "Stan? What's wrong?"

A deep shade of red was beginning to seep out from where Stan was covering his side. He removed his hand, the blood staining his palm as well.

"Stan...? Y-you've been shot..."

The two men heard it this time, however. A somewhat distant gunshot rang through the air, a split second before another spot of crimson appeared on Stan's shoulder.

"Oh no," said Lucas. "Stan...g-get down..."

A third bullet pierced into Stan's torso just below his chest, causing him to temporarily stumble backwards. When he regained his stance, he began to drop to his knees. "L-Lucas..." he said, looking at the other man in horror. "G...get out of here...go on...live...Will...Will needs his father..." With that, he collapsed, his body hunched over Lucas'.

"Damn it," cursed Lucas. "Stan...? Stan...!"

Just then, more gunshots ran through the air, followed by a familiar voice.

"Lucas?" called Brady, rushing over to the duo.

"Brady," said Lucas. "You've got to help--"

"No problem," Brady quickly replied, snatching Stan by the collar. "I'll get rid of this guy once and for all--"

"No, stop!" Lucas cried. "That's not what I mean! He's been shot. He took a few bullets for me."

"What...?" Brady looked down, surprised at the amount of blood soaking through Stan's clothing. "Oh my God...this guy needs serious medical attention."

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Lucas.

"We can bring him to the plane," Brady told him. "Dan's pretty close by, and one of the hostages he picked up is a doctor, but..."

"What?"

"I can't promise what he can do for this guy with the lack of supplies and all."

"We have to try," said Lucas. "Come on, help me carry him."

"All right," Brady said after a sigh. "I'll help...but only because he saved your life. If he tries anything else, I'll throw the bastard off the plane myself."

--

About twenty minutes later, the three had reached the plane, which was already starting up.

"Dan, open up, man...!" Brady quickly rapped the door with his fist.

The door opened. "Brady...thank God you're back." It was Rex. "Did you find Lucas?"

"Yeah, and..." Brady stepped out of the way, where Lucas was holding up an unconscious Stan.

"Oh my God. What happened to him?"

"He got shot protecting Lucas."

Confusion appeared on Rex's face. "Protecting Lucas...?"

"All right, listen up!" shouted a voice from the inside. Dan appeared in the doorway. "There's an enemy fleet that'll be here within ten minutes. We need to get out of here. Anyone planning on seeing the USA again, climb the hell on board now!"

Not more than thirty seconds later, everyone was inside, and the pilot was starting to take off.

"Just bring him over here," instructed a man in a white coat.

Brady and Lucas complied, carrying Stan toward a spot on the floor where a blanket was. They set him down with great care and then stepped back.

"Doctor, is he going to be all right?" asked Lucas.

"Well...I don't know right now," the doctor replied. "He looks pretty banged up, but I won't have an idea of the extent of the damage until I examine him. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

"Oh...of course," said Lucas, walking off a short distance with Brady.

Over on the other side of the room, Shawn and Rex turned around as the other two approached them.

"Hey guys," Shawn greeted them. "Glad to see you're okay, Lucas."

"Thanks," Lucas replied.

"And Rex tells me it's because of...Stan?"

"Yeah. I don't really get it. He went to great lengths to protect my life. I wonder if it's because our situations are so similar."

"What do you mean?" Rex asked.

"I met him in Salem before. I was actually looking for Will, but then I saw the two of them on the pier, talking. I had a chat with Stan, and he told me how he'd been separated from his wife and son. He was...pretty sympathetic toward me then, too, when I talked about Sami. And...just before he blacked out, he was telling me to go home, that Will needed his father..."

"Well, that's what you should do," Shawn told him. "Go home. In fact...that's what we all should do. It was so stupid of me to suggest going after Phil...I'm sorry, you guys. I'm sorry for putting everyone in danger..."

"No, Shawn," Rex said. "You can't blame yourself...not totally. We made the decision to go along. You didn't force us. Besides, we saved Phillip, and that's what matters. We can go home now."

"Yeah..."

"Oh my God..." came the voice from behind them.

The four young men exchanged glances, and then, starting with Lucas, they hurried over to where the doctor was.

"What's wrong, doc?" Lucas asked. "Is it Stan? What happened? Is he...?"

The doctor turned around, his expression bewildered. "Well, um..."

"What?"

"I have some good news, some bad news, and some...highly unusual news."

"Well?" Brady pressed.

"The good news is, none of, uh, Stan's...vital organs were hit. Two of the bullets stopped at the skin. The bad news is that one bullet is lodged in, er, _his_ shoulder, and...uh...he...has lost a bit of blood. I don't know how much, but thankfully, I've been able to stop the bleeding."

"What's the highly unusual news?" asked Rex.

"Stan...is not a man."

"Wh-what?"

"Stan is a woman, a woman disguised as a man. The reason why none of Stan's organs were hit is because Stan is wearing some kind of body suit. He, I mean, she...was struck by the bullets, but they didn't go through. The only place the bullet went through is her shoulder."

"That's...a woman," Brady repeated. "Impossible. He looks like a guy. He even talks like one."

"Well, it's one incredible disguise," the doctor replied. "I'm sure she's wearing a wig and some prosthetic face parts...she probably has some kind of device in her mouth that changes her voice..."

"Well, who is she?" Lucas asked. "If she's seriously hurt, then someone needs to tell her family."

"Yeah," Shawn chimed in. "Maybe one of us might recognize her from someplace."

"Well, if you wish." The man leaned over Stan, blocking him from the quartet's view. He removed all of Stan's hair pieces, also feeling around for false facial parts. He pulled them all off, then wiped Stan's face clean of make-up and residue. When he was finished, he moved out of the way, giving the young men the shock of their lives.

"Oh my God," said Rex.

"Do you recognize her?" asked the doctor.

"S-Sami...?" Lucas asked in disbelief. "It can't be..." He came closer and knelt down, studying the woman. "Sami, you...you were responsible for all this...? That's...where you were..._who_ you were...all this time?" He extended a hand and gently touched her hair. "And even though...you knew the danger...you still protected me with your life..." Lucas suppressed a sob as the possibility of losing the one before him became very real. "Sami...th-that's why...you told me to go home to Will...you were afraid...that Will would grow up without both his parents..."

Rex gazed at Lucas sympathetically. "Lucas..."

Overcome with emotion, Lucas drew even closer to Sami. "Sami...why...did this happen? Maybe if I'd only been more understanding when I saw you with Brandon..."

"Don't blame yourself, Lucas," Brady told him. "You couldn't have known this was where she'd end up. I don't think anyone could have known."

"I hate to break this up, but I need to continue monitoring her," the man in the white coat said. "It will still be several hours before we reach the states, and beyond that...well, that depends on where you're going."

Lucas softly planted a kiss on Sami's forehead and lingered there a moment before moving away. "Take care of her, please."

The doctor nodded. "I'll do my best."

"Come on, Lucas," said Rex, leading him by the arm. As Brady and Shawn went to be by Phillip's side, Rex and Lucas moved some distance away where they sat down.

"I can't believe it," Lucas said after a while. "How did this happen, Rex? How did it come to this? Our brother was tortured, and he's been unconscious for a while...the woman I love is standing on the brink of death...Will...Will's going to lose his mother..."

"Hey, hey, don't talk that way," Rex told him, sympathetically putting an arm around his shoulder. "Phil's going to be okay, and...the doctor said he was able to slow Sami's bleeding. She'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks, man."

"No problem. Heh..."

"What? What's so funny? Two people I care about are--"

"N-no, I'm not laughing at that. It's just...you just referred to Sami as the woman you love."

Lucas was silent for a while. "I...did, didn't I?" he finally said. "Oh, man. This is such a mess. I'd forgotten for a moment what Sami had done to me."

"So...what are you saying? That you can forgive and forget? Does that mean there's any hope for the two of you when she's up and about?"

"I..." Lucas cracked a sad smile. "I don't know, bro. Back there, it was pretty obvious just how much she cared for me, that she risked her life to save mine. Something like that makes me wonder how she could make love to another man and ruin what we had between us..."

"Who knows, Lucas. Considering her track record with weddings, she probably freaked out and ended up sabotaging her own happiness. Either that, or..."

"Or she was telling the truth, that our mother set her up," Lucas completed. "Is that what you were going to say? We've been over this."

"Look, Lucas, I know you've known her a lot longer than I have, and you know I don't want to think that of her. But think for a moment. Is there any reason to believe that Mom could be capable of such a thing? I mean...has she ever done something like that in the past?"

"In the past...?" Lucas searched his memories, reluctantly coming upon a most unpleasant one.

_I remember_, he thought. _It was back when Sami was going to marry Franco. I killed him. I shot him in cold blood. Yes, it was to save Mom from him, but when Sami walked in, saw Franco dead, and fainted...Mom sure as hell didn't hesitate to pin the crime on Sami. She set her up then, and now..._

"...I see what you mean," Lucas said. "It's just...Mom tells me everything, or so I thought. We only had each other for the longest time, so we were pretty close. If she was going to pull something, I'm sure she'd tell me. But to think she'd deliberately ruin my happiness because she wasn't fond of Sami..."

"Lucas..."

"I'm sorry. I just want to be alone right now. Could you...?"

"Yeah," Rex replied, nodding. "Sure. It's a lot to think about. But if you ever want to talk, I'm here for you."

"Thanks, bro."

"No problem."

--

Some hours later, the plane had landed at the Salem airport. Having requested an ambulance shortly before they landed, Lucas was able to get Sami to the hospital quickly. Now they were exiting the ambulance, the paramedics wheeling Sami into the building. Lucas was by her side, encouraging her to fight for her life.

"Come on, Sami," said Lucas as they entered through the sliding doors. "Stay with me..."

"Oh no!" cried a familiar voice, its owner rushing over. "My little girl...what happened, Lucas?"

"Marlena?" exclaimed Lucas, equally shocked. "I thought you were--"

"Long story," Marlena said quickly. "Tony held us captive for a while. Roman, Cassie, Jack and I just got back, and I was just seeing about work, when--"

"Cassie's alive?" Lucas asked. "I'm so glad. And Sami will be glad to see her parents too."

"Oh..." Marlena reached out with a hand in Sami's direction as the paramedics moved her into the emergency room. "Lucas...what happened? Why is she bleeding all over like that? Why is she dressed that way?"

"That's...a long story. Sami...got mixed up in something terrible, and she somehow ended up overseas where they were holding Phillip. Shawn, Rex, Brady and I were all captured...we managed to escape...I was with Sami, who helped me get out of the building...then she got shot trying to protect me. I'm sorry, Marlena. I should've been the one to protect her..."

"It's okay, Lucas. I don't blame you. Sami loves you, and she'd do anything for you. But...I don't understand. What terrible thing did she get mixed up in?"

"Ah...that's...something I'm not even sure of, actually. I know Sami was pretty devastated after our breakup...I'm sure that's what drove her to do it."

"Do what?"

"Get revenge."

"Oh..." Marlena's eyes began to fill with tears. "If only I'd been there...but that damn Tony..."

"Speaking of Tony, it gets worse."

"What do you mean?"

"We think...Tony was behind this thing with Sami. For some reason, he got her to do terrible things. Just before we were captured, Sami was trying to keep us from finding Phillip. I'm thinking she did it to hurt all the people she thought had hurt her. But when she realized I was there too..."

Tears were rolling down Marlena's face. "Oh, Sami..."

"I have a feeling that, whatever she did, she's regretting everything she was responsible for..."

--

After several hours of worried stares and silence, there was a new voice in the room.

"Dad!"

Lucas whirled around. "Will! Did you come by yourself?"

"Of course not," Will answered as he hurried up to the two. "I was watching movies with my friends, and I didn't get your message until now. One of the parents offered to drop me off...Dad, what's going on? I-is it true about Mom...?

"Will...listen to me," Lucas said, his tone and expression wearied. "Now is the time to be strong. Your mother is back, but she's been hurt...bad. We have to pray that the doctors will save her."

Will was horrified. "No..." he said. "Mom. Mom's...really hurt...what have I done? If only I'd stayed with her..."

"Will, stop it. It's not your fault. All of us could have done more on our own part, but no one could have known this was going to happen. So please stop it. Every moment you spend blaming yourself...you could've spent praying for her."

"You're right, Dad," the boy replied. "I'm...I'm going to be strong. I don't want Mom to die. I love her so much."

Marlena smiled and brought a hand to Will's face.

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, we all do," he said. "Listen, there isn't much we can do right now. Why don't we go to the chapel and pray?"

"Okay, Dad."

--

A while later, Lucas and Will had returned. Marlena was waiting for them, a grim expression on her face.

"Marlena," said Lucas. "How is she?"

"I don't know," Marlena replied. "I saw Lexie in there, but no one's come out to tell me anything yet. Oh, I wish I knew what was happening..."

"Why don't you go take a break?" Lucas suggested. "You and Will go to the cafeteria for a while. I'll stay here just in case anything happens."

"All right," Marlena agreed. "Actually, Will, you have school tomorrow, don't you? I'll take you home."

"I'd forgotten about that," said Lucas. "Thanks, Marlena."

"Thank you," Marlena replied, leading Will out of the room.

Lucas turned around and sighed deeply. _Sami...what's going to happen now?_

"Oh...Lucas?" called Lexie's voice. "Where's Marlena?"

"She took Will home," he replied. "What's up?"

"I have news about Sami," she said. "I was going to tell Marlena, but you might as well know, too. We were able to take the bullets that were in her body...actually, they were pretty much attached to the girdle that we had to remove, so they came out anyway. We still need to perform surgery for the bullet in her shoulder, though. Otherwise, she and the baby should be fine."

"Oh, thank God--" Lucas stopped. "Wait, what did you say? Baby?"

"Well, there was suspicion she was pregnant," Lexie told him. "I ordered a blood test immediately, and it came back positive. It's a miracle if you ask me."

"Wh...h-how could she be pregnant? Oh...that's right. Brandon Walker."

"That's possible. That's not something we're able to tell right now, but...look, Lucas, this is a serious situation here--"

"Hey, how is she?" Roman called as he walked up to the two. "Doc called me on the cell. Sami was..."

"Hey, Roman," Lucas greeted him. "I'm really glad to see you."

"You too, Lucas--"

"Oh, Lucas!" came Kate's voice, and Lucas turned to embrace his mother. "I'm so...I'm so happy you're okay. I thought the worst when you and Rex were over there."

"I'm fine, Mom," Lucas replied. "It's Sami who's been through the worst."

"Speaking of whom," Lexie continued, "Sami's still in critical condition, and we need to get that bullet out as soon as possible. We project the surgery will take at least a couple of hours."

Roman nodded. "All right. Please do everything you can to save my little girl, Lexie. I'm counting on you."

"I will, Roman," Lexie replied, and then disappeared into another room.

"Roman..." said Kate, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you going to be all right?"

"Yeah..." He turned around to face her. "Listen, why don't you catch up with Lucas here? I'm sure he has a lot to tell you. In the meantime, I'm going to give Doc a call and fill her in on what's going on."

"Okay," Kate agreed as her husband walked off. She then went to join Lucas, who was sitting down and looking depressed. "Oh, sweetie," she said, sympathetically placing her hand on his back. "It'll be all right."

"I feel like a failure, Mom--"

"Shh...don't worry. Lexie's one of the best. Sami's going to be fine." She paused. "I spoke with Rex not too long ago. How is Phillip?"

"He's fine, Mom," Lucas replied. "A little beat up, but he's alive. He woke up on the plane, thankfully. He's a couple floors up if you want to see him."

"I will, definitely. But first...I want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine, physically." As Kate breathed a sigh of relief, Lucas added, "You can thank Sami for that."

"What?"

"The reason Sami got shot...the reason she's in there fighting for her life...is because she was trying to protect me."

Kate was stunned. "Oh..."

"Y-you know, I don't get it, Mom. How in the hell did she end up over there? I mean...I know how she did. At least, I think I do. I just don't know what could have driven her to do it. Did she really think she had nothing else to live for? She lost her parents, she lost me, she lost Will...the more I think about it, the more I'm starting to see things her way..."

"Lucas, don't talk like that. Sami made her own decisions."

"But I can't make sense of any of the things she _did_!" Lucas shouted. "I mean...what the hell was she doing over there? I can understand her going around town and just being nasty to everyone she thought had wronged her. I don't mean to justify it, but that's just how Sami is. I don't understand how she got mixed up in something so dangerous..."

"Really?" asked Kate. "Look who's talking."

"That's different, Mom. The four of us were trying to save Phillip. Sami was...just hell-bent on revenge."

"That's true, but it's not like you didn't worry all of us any less."

"Mom...it's just...Sami really must have been at such a low point. Just when she needed Will and me the most, we turned our backs on her..."

"Lucas..."

"She kept saying that she didn't sleep with Brandon, and it's not like she made up a million excuses. She just flat-out denied it. That's what I don't get. And it makes me think...that maybe she really was telling the truth."

Kate groaned. "Oh, Lucas, you don't believe that."

"I believe in Sami. At least...I should've believed in her back then. She was such an emotional wreck...even if she did sleep with Brandon...Rex was right. I should've tried my best to understand. She had every right to doubt the wedding would happen, considering the things that happened in the past. I tried to do all that I could to convince her that everything would be all right this time, that she was the only one who could sabotage our happiness. But...looking back, I think I was already blaming her. I had already made up my mind to judge her, instead of leaving room to understand if anything went wrong..."

"But something did go wrong."

"Exactly. Now, Mom...I don't want to think the worst of you, and I know Sami's said some crazy things in her lifetime...but are you sure you didn't have anything to do with Sami ending up in bed with Brandon that night?"

"Lucas, we've been through this before. I _told_ you--"

"Yeah, I know what you told me," Lucas said. "And because you're family, I'd want to believe you first. But...I also know you're capable of setting Sami up to take the fall for something she didn't do. You did it once, when you framed her for Franco's murder. Isn't it strange? If you did frame her this time, this would be the second time she's nearly been killed because you set her up. Now, come on, I need you to tell me."

"Lucas--"

"_Did_ you?" demanded Lucas. "Did you set her up, Mom? A lot of this isn't making sense. I _want_ to make sense of it. Too many people have been hurt. Will...Will could lose his mom..."

Seeing her son in pain caused Kate to feel a twinge of remorse. "...all right," she said after a while. "The truth is...yes, I did have something to do with you finding her in bed with Brandon. They never slept together. They were too drugged."

"Oh, Mom," Lucas wailed. "How could you do that? You were going along with our wedding..."

"I did it for your happiness!" Kate insisted. "Lucas, if you had made a life with Sami, you would have been miserable--"

"How do you know? Mom...for someone who claims to do things for her children's happiness, you sure don't understand what in the hell even makes us happy. And you do things at the cost of other people's happiness. You _knew_ Shawn and Belle loved each other...even though I wanted Phil to be happy too, I knew his marriage to Belle was wrong. And...you encouraged Billie to be with Bo when he's _married_. I won't even ask what you've said to Rex. And now, Sami...thanks to you...because of _you_, Mom...she's in there fighting for her life...and for the life of our unborn child..."

Kate felt her heart drop. "Wh-what...?"

"Heh..." Lucas fought back a sob. "I can't believe I said that. Our unborn child. Will's going to have a little brother or sister...if Sami makes it out..."

"Oh my God," Kate said, nothing short of horrified. "Y-you mean...oh God. Because I set Sami up the night before the wedding, she might not live...? And my grandchild...Roman's grandchild might not...?"

"What did you say, Kate?" Roman demanded.

"Roman..." Kate whispered, now equally horrified at something else. She stood up and turned to face him. "I..."

"Did I hear you say you set up Sami? That, after everything you told me, you were the one who ruined my daughter's happiness?"

"I..."

"You made a promise to me, Kate," Roman continued angrily. "You told me you were going to look after Sami if, for some reason, I was gone. Not only did you not do that, you ruined the relationship with the man she wanted to be with...and you lied to me about it. Damn it, Kate. How could you do that?"

"I-I thought--"

"That what, Kate? That you were thinking of Lucas' happiness? Well, what about Sami's? They both wanted to be together because _that_ was what made them happy. It wasn't your decision to make. It was theirs." He turned away from her.

Kate cautiously made her way over to him, reaching out with a hand. "Roman--"

"Just go, Kate," he said with a scoff. "I'm so mad right now, and your presence isn't helping. We'll talk about this later. Right now, I just want to be there for Sami."

Kate sighed. "O-of course," she said after a while. "I'll...go check up on Phillip." With that, she left.

Roman took a deep breath and then, after a moment, turned his gaze toward Lucas. "Lucas...I'm really sorry."

"It's not your fault, Roman."

"Well..." The older man made his way over to Lucas and had a seat. "I thought that Kate would have changed her relationship with Sami. At the very least, I just wanted them to respect one another, even if they didn't like each other."

"I know," said Lucas.

"If anything, I was rooting for you and Sami. In fact...with any hope, I still am..."

Lucas cracked a half-smile. "Thanks, Roman."

Roman smiled back. "So...did I hear right? You and Sami are going to have another baby? I'm going to be a grandpa again?"

"That's what Lexie said. Heh, heh...I don't know. Things are really horrible right now, but if Sami makes it through and later has a healthy child, it would be the best blessing to come out of all of this."

"I know what you mean."

--

Several hours later, the surgery had wrapped up successfully, and Sami was transferred to ICU. With Lexie's permission, Roman and Marlena were the first to visit Sami, and half an hour later, they were exiting the room.

"How is she?" Lucas asked.

"Well...she's alive," Marlena said, her expression full of pain.

"She'll be okay, won't she, Lexie?" Roman asked.

"Well, right now, she's stable," Lexie responded. "She should be coming to some time tomorrow or the next day, and we'll monitor her over the next few days. I have high hopes for her, though."

"Thanks, Lexie."

"Can I see her, Lexie?" Lucas asked.

"Well...we don't usually let non-relatives go in," the doctor told him. "But as far as I'm concerned...you're her family. Besides, I'm sure your voice would also be good for her right now."

"Thanks," Lucas said, then entered the room.

--

The sight of all the tubes entering Sami brought Lucas back to a frightening reality. He took the chair resting near the door and dragged it over to the side of the young woman's bed.

"Sami..." he said, taking a seat. "You...you've been through so much...in so little time..." He reached out and carefully took her hand, clasping them in both of his. He then brought her hand up and planted a kiss on it.

"I never stopped loving you, Sami. I've been saying I don't know why you did what you did, but...the truth is...I think I have an idea why. You probably felt so alone, and...I don't blame you..."

"You kept trying to reach out to me, but I'd already had it in my head...that anything that went wrong with our happiness would have to be your fault...because I sure wouldn't do anything to deliberately ruin our chances of being together. I love you. I still do. I always will. But it was wrong for me to not put my trust in you, and I'm seeing the consequences of that now..."

"Oh, Sami..." Lucas' eyes were filling with tears. "...you were all alone, and I turned you away when you needed me the most, and I'm so sorry for that. I should've done my best to understand. I now know that you were telling the truth, that it was my mother who set you up...but even if that weren't the case, I should've been there for you. You'd lost your parents, your grandmother, and Cassie...you weren't close to Rex...Eric wasn't around...you weren't speaking to Carrie...and you were so mad at Belle for trying to share your wedding date. In reality, Will and I were the only ones you had left, and...we turned our backs on you..."

"I'm sorry, Sami. I should have been there...I should have..."

--

"Hey, guys," Lucas greeted Marlena and Roman as he left the ICU half an hour later.

"How is she?" Marlena asked.

"No change," the young man replied.

"Lucas...Roman told me the news...that Sami is pregnant. We...we have to pray for the both of them."

"That's right. Have you told anyone else?"

"Well, I told Shawn about Sami being at the hospital when I dropped Will off, but he doesn't know about the baby. I left messages on Eric's and Belle's phones, and...of course, I called John. He should be here shortly."

Just then, John came through the door. "Hey, Doc."

"Oh, speak of the devil," Marlena said. "There's been no change with her condition."

John continued limping as he joined the others. "That's...a shame," he said. "I'm glad to hear she made it through the surgery, though. But...what I don't understand is how she got over there. Do any of you know?"

"I...can answer that," Lucas replied. "The thing is...after Sami left town, at around the same time, a guy named Stan appeared. You may or may not have seen him...he was a blonde guy who knew a lot about the people in Salem...and as it turned out, he was working for Tony."

"A blonde guy...?" John started to ask, but then recalled his encounters with Stan. "Oh my God...yeah, I've...talked to him a couple of times. He was kind of a jerk...but if he was working for Tony, that explains why..."

"Well...Stan...was sent by Tony to carry out some kind of revenge on people. One of the things Stan had to do was go overseas where Phillip was being held. He was told to mislead us in our quest to find Phil, and we ended up getting captured by Tony."

"What...?" John exclaimed.

"Tony is alive?" Roman asked in shock.

"Oh my God," said Marlena.

"Yeah, I don't want to believe it either," Lucas continued. "Anyway, we didn't understand it at the time, but Stan had a change of heart and helped us escape. Brady, Shawn, and Rex went first, but I wanted to keep an eye on Stan...anyway, he helped me out of the building. I kept doubting him, but he tried to give me his gun, saying that if I didn't trust him, then I could shoot him. One of Tony's guards intercepted us and tried to shoot me, but Stan killed him. Then there was some kind of explosion...I got knocked out temporarily, but it sounded like Stan was trying to defend the both of us with his gun. When I came to, I saw him standing over me, trying to see if I was all right. And then...he got shot pretty badly, and--"

"I'm sorry, Lucas," Roman interrupted, "and I don't mean to cut in here, but we were asking about Sami, and you haven't mentioned her at all."

"Actually, Roman...I've been talking about her all along."

"What do you mean?" John asked.

"Well, when Stan got shot, I felt pretty bad...you know, even though he'd tried to deceive us," Lucas said. "I wanted to save his life. I kind of believed he was a good guy inside, especially since he had a kid to look after. Anyway, we brought him on board the plane, and thankfully, there was a doctor there. And, uh, when the doctor examined him...he found out that Stan...was actually a woman in disguise."

"What...?" Marlena cried. "No...Lucas, don't tell me it was..."

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, I was pretty shocked myself. But the doctor removed the disguise...and lying there was Sami. She'd been doing Tony's deeds for the past couple of months, dressed as a guy named Stan."

"Oh my God..." Roman said.

"Sami..." John murmured, in more shock than the others. "No...oh no...it was she who did that to me..."

"What do you mean, John?" Marlena questioned him, though had a feeling that she would not like the answer.

"I was wondering how that guy got into the penthouse so easily," John continued. "Stan...was trying to give me drugs for my pain...I didn't know who he was. I thought he was some freak. We got into a fight, and..." John now looked horrified. "Oh my God. I almost killed her. I tried to strangle her when we were going at it. I thought she was an intruder. I almost...I almost killed Sami. Oh God, Doc, I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay, John," Marlena told him and embraced him. "You didn't know..."

"Roman, Lucas..."

"Not happy about that, John," Roman said. "But I totally understand."

"Yeah," Lucas chimed in. "Same here. I mean...when we were over there, we all pointed our guns at Stan at one point. It was one hell of a disguise."

"Doc?" John asked as Marlena looked as though she were about to cry. "What's wrong?"

"No...it's just...I'm happy Sami's back, but...I'm afraid what's going to happen from this point forward. John...she is in so much trouble for all the things she did. I'm sure of it."

"Hey, hey," John said and drew his wife into a hug. "We'll get through it. I'm sure there's a lot more to this story. If worse comes to worse, we can talk to Mickey. Right now, we just need to focus on what's important. Doc, Roman...you have your daughter back. Lucas...you found the woman you love. We need to pray for Sami's recovery..."

"And for her unborn child," Marlena finished.

"And for her unborn...what?" John said, confused.

"Sami's pregnant, John."

"No kidding...wow. How could she put her child's life in danger like that?"

"I don't think she knew," said Marlena.

John turned to Lucas. "I don't...mean to sound rude, but..."

"Yes, it's mine," Lucas quickly replied. "At least, I don't think Sami was with any other men."

"What about Brandon?"

"Well, it turns out...Sami was telling the truth, that Mom set her up after all."

"It's true," Marlena said. "Roman was just telling me how Kate set it up so that Lucas would find Sami in bed with Brandon on the eve of their wedding."

"No...oh, Kate..." John shook his head in disappointment. "Sami...kept asking me to help her when the wedding fell apart, but I couldn't. I was just in so much pain. But now...maybe if I'd tried a little harder..."

"That's enough," Roman said. "Now, I'm tired of hearing you folks blame yourselves. I realize Sami was horribly betrayed, but she also made the decision to react the way she did. She most definitely has her share of the blame. No one forced her to do what she did. She's my daughter, and I love her, but by God, she needs to realize that there are more constructive ways of dealing with life's lemons."

"Thank you, Roman," Marlena said softly. "We're all just upset right now. Let's just wait for tomorrow to come..."

--

The next day, Lucas was back in Sami's room, sitting at the young woman's bedside.

"Hey there," he said, taking her hand in one of his. He then brought the other to her face, gently tracing her features with his fingertips. "Will's worried about you, you know. He was asking me when his mom was gonna wake up and come home." He chucked. "Actually, I was kind of wondering the same thing."

"You know, Sami...when you wake up...I want to take you home and look after you. Not out of guilt or anything...but because I've missed you, and I want to be there no matter what happens. I love you, Sami...please...come home to me. Come home to us. That is...if you still want to..." He bowed his head briefly, sighing.

"Of course...I want to..." whispered the voice of the one beside him.

"Sami...?" Lucas lifted his head as the young woman stirred and came to. "Hey...how are you?" he asked with a relieved smile. "You were out for a while, but you'll be okay now."

"Oh..." Sami opened her eyes. "Lucas? Wh-where am I? What...happened?"

"You're in ICU, Sami. You were shot. They had to perform surgery, but like I said, you'll be fine."

Sami relaxed for a moment, but then realized something. "Wait a minute. You called me Sami. That...that can't be good..."

"Sami, it's all right," Lucas said. "I know how you dressed up as Stan to get revenge on people, and...I don't agree with that at all. But...you did come through for us and realized what you were doing was wrong. And I know that you wouldn't have been driven to do such things in the first place if we'd all been there for you..."

"Yeah, well...it was pretty lonely. I just wanted someone to believe me about Kate and help me get you back..."

"I'm so sorry, Sami..."

Sami looked at Lucas, surprised by the amount of remorse in his expression and voice. "Lucas...what?"

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you, and even if I didn't...I should've been there anyway. I should've tried my best to understand what was going on..."

"What are you saying? That you believe me now?"

"Yeah. Mom admitted the whole thing."

"Really? Well...I'm just glad you believe me now."

"But it doesn't matter whether I did or not. Don't you see? I should've been there for you. I love you so much, Sami...and I'm sorry I almost had to lose you just to realize that..."

Sami was stunned. "Lucas..."

"Anyway, I should get a nurse in here, let them know you're awake. You've got a tough road ahead of you, Sami, and you're going to have to be strong. I'll definitely be there, but you have to be strong, too...for you and the baby..."

Sami chuckled. "Lucas...you don't need to call him a baby. Will can take care of himself. At least...after having a mother like me--"

"I wasn't talking about Will."

"Then who...? Lucas...is another woman carrying your child?"

"No, of course not. I haven't been with anyone besides you for a long time."

"Then what are you saying...?"

"We're going to have another baby, Sami," Lucas told her, beaming. "You're pregnant."

"What?" Sami asked, shocked. "Th-that's impossible."

"Come on, Sami. Couldn't you tell?"

"Well, no. Pregnancy was the last thing on my mind. I've been busy. I didn't think about my cycle..."

"Didn't you start to feel sick or anything?"

"Well, yeah...but I figured it was because of all the things Tony was having me do. Some of them were pretty bad. Makes me a little sick to think about now, actually..."

"Sami..."

"Lucas," she said, squeezing his hand. "You know...I had a dream. I think it was last night. I dreamed that my parents came down from heaven to talk to me. They were telling me how worried they were about me, and that they couldn't wait for me to get well so that we could have a long talk." She let out a bitter laugh. "But that's impossible. As much as Tony taunted me and told me he could reunite them with me...I'm sure that was a lie..."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Lucas told her. "Dreams have been known to come true."

"What do you mean?"

"Just close your eyes, Sami," said a voice from the door. "And wish really hard..."

Sami lifted and turned her head, staring as Marlena entered the room. "M...Mom...? It can't be..."

"It is...I've missed you so much, Sami."

"Mommy," gasped Sami as Lucas made room for Marlena. "Oh my God..."

Marlena drew closer and took her daughter's hand in hers. She then gently pressed her head to Sami's, touching the other side of Sami's face with her other hand. "I'm home, baby...I'm home for good..."

Sami was sobbing now, tears running down her face. "Oh, Mom...I can't believe you're here. All I wanted was to see your face...I couldn't ask for anything else right now..."

"How about seeing the face of your father?" Roman asked as he came through the door.

"D-Daddy...!"

With a smile, Roman made his way over to the other side of Sami, embracing her. "Ah...God, I've missed holding you."

Sami continued crying, completely overwhelmed. "Mom...Daddy...I'm...I'm so happy..."

"So are we, sweetheart," said Marlena, kissing Sami's forehead. "We missed you. We're so glad to see you...and we want to talk about everything that happened..."

Sami let out a disgusted groan. "Yeah, you'll be real proud of me after I tell you everything I've done."

"You mean dressing up like a guy and doing Tony's work?" Roman said.

"Y...you know about that?"

"Well, Lucas filled us in on some of the parts, but...we'd like to hear the story from you."

Sami grew quiet for a moment. "Well, where should I begin? I'd lost my parents, and Kate set me up so that Lucas would find me in bed with Brandon. I tried to get Lucas back, but Kate denied the whole thing. I tried to get everyone's help, but...they were all too busy."

"They were all going through their own grief, Sami," Lucas told her.

"Yeah...I know that now. I just thought it cruel of them to say things like, they'd always be there for me...and when I finally needed them, they weren't...it just...made me so angry. I felt so betrayed, and there was no way I could get Lucas back. Then Will left the apartment...and then Kate...you couldn't wipe that stupid smile off her face...she showed up to tell me I didn't have a job anymore. At that point, I pretty much just cursed everyone for not helping me."

"Oh God...I'm so sorry, baby," said Marlena. "I wish I'd been there..."

"So how did you end up becoming this Stan character?" asked Roman.

"Revenge, basically. Someone kept showing me the word revenge, like they wanted me to focus on it, or something. Then some guy showed up and gave me a makeover...I had some instructions from an anonymous boss, someone who was telling me how I could get revenge on my enemies. It sounded good at the time, and hey, at that point, I didn't have much else to live for. So I started messing around with the lives in Salem. I...snuck into the penthouse when John was recovering. I was so angry he survived when you two didn't. I'd already told him that I thought he wanted you two dead so he just left you two to die."

"That's not true, Sami," Marlena said. "John was paralyzed from the waist down. I strapped him to the raft. Tony made sure your father and I didn't make it back."

"Yeah, I understand. It's just, at the time, none of it made sense, and there wasn't anyone I could talk to about it...at least, not anyone who wasn't going through their own grief...or celebrating a reunion...a reunion I desperately wanted. So I went ahead with what the boss wanted me to do. I went after John with some painkillers. I also met him on the pier with more drugs. We fought a couple of times. I knew he was in pain, but I took advantage of that. I thought...that no one's pain could compare to mine, especially since everyone else had someone to help them through it...and I didn't have anyone."

"Sami...how could you?" Marlena asked, her eyes welling up with tears. "John loves you so much. You know that if he wasn't suffering, he would have been there for you."

"I know, but that didn't matter to me. Someone had to pay. I also ended up manipulating other events. I taunted Mimi, Jan, and Nicole...and I knew Chloe was alive."

"What?" Roman exclaimed.

"Chloe...is alive. She was in some freaky accident that left her face scarred, but she doesn't want to let Brady know she's alive until her face has gone through enough surgeries to restore her beauty."

"Oh...no," said Marlena. "She has to know that Brady would love her no matter what."

"Well, apparently, she doesn't," Sami continued. "Anyway, I sent Nicole over to the hospital to tamper with her surgery, to make sure it didn't go the way it should..."

"Oh, Sami..." said Roman.

"And...I did things to mess around with Uncle Bo's marriage. Not directly, but...I knew Uncle Bo and Billie were looking for their daughter. I kept taunting Billie with some talking baby doll, messing with her emotions."

"Sami...you realize my brother's marriage was almost broken up?"

"Yes...and I'm sorry, Daddy. I was jealous, I guess. Every time I saw a happy couple, it would bring back memories of Lucas...and I'd remember how I couldn't be with him anymore. It made me miserable, and I wanted to make everyone else just as miserable."

"Is there anything else?" Marlena questioned her. "I'm sure you couldn't have gone into a war zone for no reason."

"Oh, that...well, I was told to find Phillip. When I got there, neither of the guards knew who I was, so they dragged me into the cell with Phillip and chained me next to him. Phillip...thought I was some guy sent to rescue him since I was an American. I accidentally let it slip that I wasn't a guy, but Phillip just figured I was talking in code and said he had a way to escape. But before he could tell me, he blacked out, and the guards started to drag me off to execute me."

Marlena gasped. "Oh my God..."

"Sami, did they hurt you?" Roman asked.

"Well, no. They told me they were going to kill me, but I asked them for a blindfold. When they tried to put it on me, they realized I had on a wig and took off the disguise. I kept pleading with them...and then the phone rang. It was Tony. I found out I was working for _Tony_. God..."

"But why didn't you quit when you found out?" Marlena asked. "Did...did Tony threaten you?"

"It's...not really so much that," Sami replied sadly. "Tony kept promising that I'd get my revenge...but I told him I wouldn't do it if he harmed Phillip. Even though I hate Kate, it's not like her son did anything to me..."

"Well...I'm disappointed that you went with Tony's plans...and there will be some charges brought up, I'm sure..."

"I know, Mom..."

"But...at the same time, I'm proud of you for trying to save Phillip's life." Marlena smiled and lightly caressed her daughter's face.

"Yeah, well...a lot of good that did. Tony sent me out to mislead Brady's group, to lead them into a trap. I had no idea Lucas was with them. I don't know if that would have changed things, but...when I saw Lucas, I immediately regretted what I had done. So I did what I could to help them escape, even Phillip." Tears were forming in her eyes. "I was so scared...not even for my own life anymore. When I was bringing Lucas out of there, one of Tony's henchmen was trying to kill him, and I...I couldn't let that happen. Then there was some kind of explosion...and when I saw Lucas lying there, bleeding, I thought the worst, that...that..." She started sobbing. "Thank God he wasn't hurt..."

"Thanks to you," Lucas told her. "Sami...I owe my life to you."

"Well, you wouldn't if I'd just told you all about Phillip."

"...You were just trying to protect him. And you came around in the end."

"How can you be so forgiving, Lucas...?" Sami asked him, tears streaming down her face. "I messed up. I put Phillip in danger. I put all of _you_ in danger...and all because...all because I wanted revenge--"

"Shh..." said Lucas. "We've spent...way too much time laying the blame on people. Sure, you have to take your share of the blame, but I also know you wouldn't have been driven to do such things if we all had just made time for you. If I blame you, Sami, I can't blame you entirely...I wouldn't want to. I want to get past this. I don't want to keep bringing up things from the past, looking for a reason why something falls apart now. We can't be secure in our future if that keeps happening."

"Lucas," Sami said, reaching out for him.

Lucas took Sami's hands. "Sami...we've got a lot to talk about, a lot to reconciling to do. I don't know how you feel...but if you still want to be with me, I'll be waiting for you..."

"Oh, Lucas..."

Marlena and Roman exchanged glances and moved away from the bed.

Still holding Sami's hands, Lucas came up beside Sami. He drew nearer and bent down slightly, softly pressing his lips against Sami's. He then pulled back.

"I love you, Sami."

"I love you too, Lucas."

"Ah...well...we should have called in a nurse by now," Lucas said, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Sami."

"I'm fine, Lucas. A little tired and...agh...very, very sore...all right, it wouldn't hurt to get that nurse in here."

Lucas chuckled at her. "Of course."

--

A few hours after Sami awoke, she was moved to another hospital room. She had been sleeping for a while, but she awoke when she felt a presence in the room.

"Hey there, pumpkin," John greeted her. "How are you feeling?"

Sami felt her heart skip a beat. "J-John...? What are...what are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you're doing."

The young woman's expression was now guilt-ridden. "Wh-why would you want to see the pill-pusher that almost got you in trouble?"

"Because..." John limped over to the side of the bed and took a seat on the chair. "No matter what happens, you'll always be special to me, Sami."

"B-but I...I gave you drugs when I knew you were becoming addicted to them. I kept taunting you. I-I stabbed you with a needle--"

"And I nearly killed you, Sami. I'm not saying I'll let you off the hook for what you did to me, but when I think about how close I came to killing my own stepdaughter, it scares me. I question my own character."

"But it's not like you knew," Sami said. "You thought I was some creepy guy, and anyone else would've thought the same thing. But I knew. I knew exactly what I was doing..."

"Did you?" John asked. "I got the impression you didn't even know you were one of Tony's pawns."

"Not at first, no. I didn't know until I went overseas. But...I was angry, John. I was losing everybody. I had no one left."

"Sami...you weren't the only one who lost people. I wanted to help you so much. I did. But I could barely breathe without feeling pain."

"...And I took advantage of that fact."

"Yeah, you did, and that hurts way more than any physical pain the drugs dulled. I never thought for a minute that you were the one trying to hook me on those painkillers. I'm...not going to press charges. I should, but I won't. There was a lot going on here, Sami...Tony took away your parents and grandmother...then Kate took away Lucas and Will. All of us were busy grieving, but you...you were trying to get Lucas back. You didn't want to wallow in your grief. You know, in a way, that's what we all should have been doing..."

Sami raised an eyebrow at him. "Working for Tony?"

"No. I mean, not wallowing in our grief. I was so lost after we thought your mother had died...I just couldn't move on, no matter what. But you didn't stay in one place. You went and did something. Of course, you went about it the wrong way, but...you tried to forget your pain instead of letting it eat you up inside--"

"No, I didn't," Sami interrupted. "My pain is exactly what drove me to do all those horrible things. No one wanted to help me fix my problems, so I wanted to add to everyone else's pain."

"Well...like I said, you went about dealing with things the wrong way, but if I had a choice between doing something and just being idle with grief...I'd want to do something."

"You just wouldn't be stupid like I was about it."

John offered a grim smile. "I guess not." He reached up with a hand and cupped her cheek. "Oh, Sami..." he whispered. "I missed seeing your face. If I said anything horrible to you while I was in pain, I'm sorry..."

"I should be the one who's sorry. It's not like you could help it."

"I guess not."

A moment of silence.

"John...why are you being so nice to me after all I did to you?" Sami asked.

"Because," John started as he brought his hand back, "I told you, you're special to me. No matter what, you'll always be my daughter."

"But I'm not your daughter," Sami stated. "How could you...how could you still say things like that, after...?"

"After what? After we found out I wasn't Roman? So I'm not your biological father. So what? I'm not here to replace Roman, and I never could in a million years. But just because I'm not Roman doesn't mean I can't think of you as a daughter. I loved all of Roman's children when I thought I was him...and in time, that love became solid, a feeling I couldn't erase..."

"But I just don't see how--"

"Sami, let's get hypothetical for a moment."

"Huh?"

"You love Will, don't you?"

"Of course," Sami replied.

"How would you feel if, for some reason, Will turned out to not be your son? Say the hospital accidentally switched the babies and you only found out now? Or through some DiMera plot, Will wasn't your flesh and blood? How would you feel? Would you still love Will?"

"W-well, of course I'd still love Will," Sami said, a little stunned. "I raised him. He's my little boy, no matter what."

"Then how can you ask why I feel that way about you?" John asked.

Sami grew quiet, pondering the man's words.

"Anyway...I'd like to take this time...and take the first step to fix things between us. That is...if you don't mind letting your stepdad into your life. With Tony still around, we all need to be stronger than ever. So...what do you say?"

Sami studied him a while before answering. "No," she said.

John sighed in disappointment. "Oh, Sami..."

"I won't let you take the first step," Sami continued, "because...I want to be the one who takes it. John...you aren't the one who wronged me all these years. It was Stefano. I just didn't...know how to deal with that. But now I'm beginning to see...my way of dealing with things isn't right. I can't say we'll all be one big happy family, but...I want to try. I don't...want to push people away anymore..."

John smiled at her and briefly touched her chin. "Thanks, sweetheart."

"I'm sorry, John...I'm sorry...not just for the painkillers, but for the way I've treated you all these years. You cared about me, but all I could do was blame you for breaking up my parents' marriage. It doesn't matter whether I want my parents together or not. Mom is happy with you. I know she is. I just...I couldn't accept you. It scared me to think how much I ended up caring about a total stranger...it was like I was betraying Daddy..."

"But you weren't."

"I did...love you when you were my father, John," Sami said, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I guess, in some ways, I still care about you. It's just hard..."

"Hey, hey, it's okay," John said, catching the tear with his hand. "You aren't betraying your father. He's your flesh and blood, and I can never come between that. Just know that...even if I wasn't married to your mother, I'd always care about you..."

Sami managed a sad smile. "Thanks...thank you, John..." She reached up as John moved forward to embrace her.

John drew back after a while, looking at her. "So...congratulations. I hear you and Lucas are having a baby."

"Yeah," Sami said, fully beaming now. "I can't believe it. And...I can't believe how lucky I was...if the enemy had shot lower..."

"Hey, don't think about it. This is a miracle, something to celebrate. And...I think it's a sign, that you and Lucas are meant to be together."

"I hope so."

"What do you mean, you hope so?" Lucas demanded from the door.

Sami turned her head and smiled. "Lucas."

The young man walked in and took a seat beside John. "I'll have you know that I _know_ we're meant to be together," he told her, smiling back. "We're soulmates, Sami. We'll always find a way back to each other, no matter what."

"Mom...?" Will's voice called.

"Will?" Sami said in surprise. "Oh, Will...!"

Lucas and John stood up and made way for the boy as he ran into his mother's arms.

"Oh," Sami gasped. "Careful."

"I-I'm sorry, Mom," Will said, moving back. "Did I hurt you? The bandages..."

"No, sweetie," she responded. "It was just a little uncomfortable."

"I'll...leave you three alone," John said. "Take care."

"You too," Lucas said in reply.

"John...thank you," Sami told him.

John nodded and smiled, and then he was on his way.

"Oh...Will," Sami exclaimed. "Let me get a good look at you. It...it seems like forever, even if it really wasn't..."

"Mom...I'm so glad you're okay. We were so worried. I thought...I thought you left because I moved out. I kept thinking...if only I'd stayed..."

"Oh, honey, I made the decision to do what I did. I should have fought harder for you and your dad. Instead I..." Sami let out a sigh. "I let my need for revenge take over. I should have been stronger than that. I shouldn't have gone away."

"But...you're back now, right?"

"Of course I am, sweetie. I'm done running. I'm done...turning my back on everyone."

"Oh, that's good," Will said, momentarily embracing his mother again. "But...I'm confused about something."

"What is it?"

"You really were that guy on the pier?"

Sami stared at Lucas in shock.

Lucas could only give her a sheepish look. "I, er...told him about Stan."

"A-and you're still talking to me after that?" Sami asked Will.

"Well...it's hard to explain. Even though I don't like the things you did as Stan, I'm happy that you ended up doing the right thing. I know you're a good person, Mom. But sometimes, when we're in pain...we do things we never thought we would. I never thought I'd walk out on you when Dad found you with Brandon, but I was hurting. Kind of like how you wanted revenge because you were hurting."

"Will, don't compare what you did with what I did," Sami ordered him. "You just weren't able to live with me anymore. I wanted to hurt people. There is no excuse for the things I did."

"But you wouldn't have done those things if Grandma Kate hadn't set you up..."

"Maybe. But maybe not. How many times did I say I was going to change, but didn't? No...I have to accept responsibility this time. I have so much to live for, especially with the new baby coming..."

"Wh-what?" said Will.

"Oh, that's right," Lucas said, putting a hand on Will's shoulder. "I didn't tell you, did I? Your mom and I are having a baby. You're going to have a little brother or sister."

The boy's jaw dropped. "R-really? Oh my God. That's...Mom, that's awesome! I can't believe it...I'm so happy!"

Sami and Lucas could only smile at Will's reaction.

"This is great...and since you and Dad are finally getting married, we'll be a real family..."

Sami was bewildered. "What?"

"Uh..." A grinning Lucas leaned in closer to his son's ear. "Will, don't spoil the surprise."

"Lucas...what?"

"Sami...we've been through so much over the past...well, the past decade or so. When I found you with Brandon, I felt betrayed...but I was also betraying my own feelings by pushing you away. I love you, Sami, and the only thing I've been dreaming about in the past year is marrying you. In fact, that's a dream I still have today..." He pulled out a small black ring box and opened it.

"Lucas..." Sami murmured. "That's...that's my engagement ring."

"I stopped by your apartment," Lucas told her. "Anyway...I know this isn't the best proposal considering where we are, but..." He took Sami's hand and slowly lowered himself onto one knee. "Sami...will you marry me...still?"

Sami smiled in response. "Of course I will, Lucas."

Lucas slipped the ring on her finger, and then the two shared a kiss.

Sami continued smiling as Lucas pulled away, her eyes landing on Will, who was wearing a thoughtful look. "Will? What is it?"

"Oh...nothing..." he replied. "It's just...I've never seen you so happy..."

The young woman's expression grew warmer. "That's because I've never been this happy before. I have so much to live for, and I can't wait to do it. I can't wait until we're a family..."

"We are a family, Sami," said Lucas. "No matter what."

Sami reached out for Lucas and Will, and the three shared a long embrace. She then let out a content sigh.

"No matter what..." she repeated.


End file.
